Map/Chart > The Persian Collection

An early French chart of the Persian Gulf

A previously unpublished French chart of the Persian Gulf; from the Gulf of Oman through to Basra in Iraq

Chart Information

Reference:

P709

Date

c1736-1741

Hydrographer/Surveyor/Artist:

Unknown

Size Of Original:

w 86cm x h 58cm

Paper Type

German Hahnemuhle Etching Paper 310gms

Further Information

This chart is available in the following standard sizes and formats

Chart ID

Size

Dimensions (cm)

Print Only

Notes

P709

Original

w86 x h58

£269.00

Print only

P709x

Half

w46.5 x h56

£179.00

Print only

Of particular interest is the
absence of marked settlements or ports anywhere along the southern or Arabian, side of
the Gulf and the coast-line is strikingly inaccurate as it progresses north
east, indicating no intent to visit.Indeed a large section of the coast is marked as inaccessible.Also marked on the chart are two relief
sketches of mountain ranges clearly visible from the sea.The first is on the northern shore of
the gulf west of the entrance to the River Euphrates (marked ‘A’) at the end
northern end of the gulf and the other is on the Oman coastline south of Muscat
(roughly marked ‘B’). Notations that show the location of passes through the hills accompany the two sketches.Various rivers, including the river
‘Zazarie’ to the north of Abu Dhabi, seem wildly out of proportion.

During this time the French made
at least 20 voyages from India to Basra ‘The famous town of Bassora’ and
occasionally to Bandar Abbas.By
1741 their efforts had been thoroughly thwarted; in part by British control of
the straits of Hormuz, which included a permanent military presence and
strenuous tax levies set by the British controlled Customs Houses in Bandar
Abbas. French trade was further affected by the recurring political uncertainty
in the region, which was even beginning to affect the British and Dutch by this
point.

From the moment the Portuguese had
taken control over Hormuz region in 1507, built a fort on Sahru Island*, and
established Bandar Abbas as the principle port and centre of commerce for the
Hormuz region, the city effectively dominated the narrow (85km wide) Straits of
Hormuz.All of the European
powers, such as Britain, Portugal, Holland and France, who were vying for
control of the trade routes to Asia, which included the main over-land roads to
the Irano-Afghan hinterland, with passes through the Zagros Mountains were
subject to the city and its port.

The Afghan invasion of Iran in
1722 had set-off a period of uncertainty to the region; although British and
Dutch fortified factories and other interests remained un-touched, even during
the subsequent 1727 sacking of Bandar Abbas by 4,000 Afgan horsemen.National order was restored under Nader
Shah Afsar, but the British and Dutch came under increasing pressure from the
ruler, and, in 1736, the British East India Company suffered confiscation of
the Honourable East India Company’s caravan animals loaded with Kerman
wool.By 1746 Nader Shah had
effectively put an end to the port's vitality by levying punitive taxes on
commerce and by designating the port of Bušehr, which was much closer to Shiraz
and Isfahan, as the principal port on the Gulf.The fortunes of Bandar Abbas rapidly declined and it was
reported by Bartholomew Plaisted (in his 1758 Journal from Calcutta, London,
p.11), that by 1750, only one out of ten of the port's homes was still
occupied.The effective end of
British and Dutch influence in the region came on the morning of October 13,
1759 when, as part of what was known as the Seven Years War between the two
countries (1756 -1763) a French naval squadron, flying Dutch colours, attacked
the port and seized the British factory.1762 saw the withdrawal of all British interests in Bandar Abbas,
followed shortly by the Dutch.

*Šahru, which then came to be
known by a variety of names: Gomru, Kombru, Gombaru in Oriental sources;
Cambarão and Comorão in Portuguese writings; Combru and Gombroon, Gambron,
Camoron, Comoros, and so on, in other European sources.